Priests’ chants a hit album

CMT to pair Line with Chainsmokers

DENTON, Neb, May 25, (Agencies): At the sound of a tap, dozens of young men clad in black cassocks and white surplices rise from kneeling positions to watch two of their brother priests begin a chant.

With a gentle wave of the Rev Zachary Akers’ arm, the other priests pick up the song. Their voices float as one to the arched chapel ceiling, filling the small church with resonant, almost haunting echoes.

The ancient Latin wouldn’t have felt out of place in a European monastery hundreds of years ago. But this seminary is less than 20 years old and sits on a hill southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska, surrounded by fields newly planted with corn and soybeans.

The priests are members of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, a Catholic order formed in 1988 that focuses on traditional, pre-Vatican II liturgy and sung prayers. They come from around the country and the world, many drawn to Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in the tiny village of Denton by the holy power they feel in Gregorian chant.

And since May 12, they’ve had the best-selling classical album on Amazon and one of the top classical albums on iTunes.

The seminary never expected to have a hit album, said the Rev Gerard Saguto, the order’s North American superior.

“Requiem,” by The Fraternity, features many of the 80 seminarians and recently ordained priests singing a traditional Latin funeral Mass. It’s the result of four years of requests from de Montfort Music, a label that focuses on sacred music.

Monica Fitzgibbons started the label with her husband after realizing sacred chants were an uncovered territory.

Fitzgibbons said she had a pretty good idea the album would take off in the niche market of sacred music because of the priests’ young voices, unique in a genre dominated by older monks. Sony licensed the album, and it’s sold more than 5,000 copies in less than two weeks — a sizable figure for a classical artist that doesn’t tour and enough to top Billboard’s classical chart.

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LOS ANGELES: The 2017 edition of the CMT Music Awards, airing June 7, will feature a slew of star pairings including Florida Georgia Line with The Chainsmokers, Lady Antebellum with Earth Wind & Fire, and Keith Urban with Carrie Underwood.

They join previously announced artists Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, and Thomas Rhett, and host Charles Esten, at Nashville’s Music City Center where Kelsea Ballerini is up against Rhett and Urban for the most nominations, including the highly coveted Video of the Year category.

While the competition is reason enough to tune in, the collaborations are sure to get people talking, much like last year’s CMA Awards where Dixie Chicks and Beyonce teamed up for the song “Daddy Issues.”

Says Margaret Comeaux, CMT Music Awards executive producer: The Chainsmokers and Florida Georgia Line are two of the hottest bands in the world right now. We’re excited for the fans to see their collective vision.”

kicks off in Europe in September. Wood joined the Rolling Stones in 1975. (AP)